President of the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) Africa Zone 3, Col. Sam Ahmedu, has assured that the qualifying tournament in the zone will definitely hold irrespective of the challenges faced by the zone.
He gave the assurance at the wake of the postponed FIBA Zone 3 qualifying tournament initially billed to dunk off in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Monday, October 13 to Sunday, October 19, but has now been moved forward to hold from October 20 to 29.
He said: “It was not in our interest to postpone the tournament again, but we found ourselves in a tight corner when the Burkinabe Sports Commission said it fixed a tournament at that period and at the same venue we want to use.
“They requested that we move our tournament and we had to agree with them in order for us to still hold the tournament.
“But I want to assure all stakeholders that this qualifying tournament will definitely hold in Burkina Faso. We have informed all participating countries about the change of date and they have assured us that they will participate; so there is nothing to fear about it holding or not.
“We meant well for the zone and we will do all things possible within our reach to help develop the game of basketball in the zone.”
The new assurance may imply that FIBA Africa may have soft-peddled on the Champions League format that was earlier proposed. Most clubs on the African continent had complained that they were not ready, as they did not plan for the financial implications.
The tournament, we gathered, will be for men and women teams. It is expected that all the teams representing the participating countries will be in attendance.
Teams from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Burkina Faso and Liberia are expected to feature at the tournament.
Nigeria will be represented by winner of the Women National Basketball League, First Bank Basketball, and first runner-up, Dolphins Basketball of Lagos.
Already, Chief Coach of First Bank Basketball Club, Aderemi Adewunmi, has reassured Nigerians that his girls will not disappoint at the tournament.
He said: “We’ve been there before. We have the experience and the players to do the nation proud. So we have no cause to fear, as we are ever-ready to excel at the tournament.”